Philip K. Dick once said that "Things show their true nature by how they decay." If that's the case, the people and society of Galactica is shown to have been pretty vile all along, based on what we've seen in these last three episodes. But back to this in a minute. More immediately: Wow!
Now that was a hell of an episode. Fan reaction has seemed pretty weak on the last two episodes, but I liked 'em myself. This one should be more of a crowd-pleaser, though, I think.
After making secret bargains with Zarek last week, and spreading dissention among the ranks, this week Felix Gaeda brings a full-on mutiny. First he and some conspiring minor recurring characters spring Zarek from the brig, and spirit him away to the landing bay. There they stage an accident to clear out the lookey-loos, but Cheif Laird thinks something is up, so Zarek kills him with a wrench. Gaeda takes charge and argues the murderous vice president in to a shuttle, then goes to the bridge and to cover for the unscheduled raptor departure, doing a lot of lying to Mister Hoshi, his...uhm...I guess he's probably his ex-boyfriend now, huh? Certainly I don't think a night of dancing to old Erasure CDs is gonna' fix this.
Back on Colonial One, Zarek takes charge, completely pulling the wind out of occasional president pro-tem Apollo's sails. Confused, and manipulated by Zarek, Apollo heads back to the Galactica to find out why his dad let the bastard out.
Gaeda, meanwhile, has been staging various fires and crises on the Galactica to cover the machinations of his confederates, and is surrepticiously keeping Adama cut off from all communitations until he springs the old "Relieving you of command" saw on him. A firefight ensues, and Tigh and Adama are taken prisoner. They escape en rout, of course. All the Cylons on the Galactica, excepting Tyrol, have been captured and put in the brig, along with Hera and Helo.
Apollo is greeted by a welcoming party of more recurring characters who sucker punch him and take him captive until a heavily-armed Starbuck turns up and starts shooting people. (You know, I was as put off by Starbuck rolling around on the floor screaming "We're going the wrong way" as anyone else, but I didn't really miss the gun toting crazy-assed starbuck until this moment. It was nice to see her again!) they escape, and get to the presidents' quarters (Which are also the Admiral's quarters, hubba hubba), and get her away from there.
Explaining Zarek's attempted coup d'etat to her, Roslin *Finally* snaps to her senses, and agrees to get back in the game. They head to Baltar's Cult Headquarters to use his illegal wireless to address the fleet before Gaeda jams the signal. Tyrol has loyal men communicating to him by walkie talkie, and has a good grasp of the situation. Everyone makes their way to a mostly-forgotten auxiliary storage airlock to rendezvous with a loyal Raptor, and spirit the president, Baltar, and anyone else away. Tigh and Adama stay behind to hold off the mutineers trying to prevent this. The Raptor heads for the Rebel Base Ship, while the mutineers crack the hatch to the airlock and throw in a grenade...
To Be Continued.
There was a lot of
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Comments
27 December 2008
20 min 13 sec
I think you're on to something there.
It's long been a joke among my friends that there's a certain class of Christian that makes the worst possible kind of Atheist: That is, the sort that has some sort of speedbump to their faith, and then throw *all* their beliefs out the window, both the good ones and the bad ones as a result. The joke is that they're not really secure in their atheism either, it's simply a default position they've retreated to.
An example is the scene in Catch 22 when Yosarian and his flight instructor's wife are in bed, and she starts talking about how there's no God. "Right," he says, "How can there be a God when there's all this pain and misery and suffering in the world?" The girl starts crying at that point, and when he asks her why she says "Becuase the God you don't believe in is vicious and cruel, the God I don't believe in is kind and loving..."
So I think you're on to something there.
Any thoughts on why they kept showing Gaeta rubbing his stump after the Mutiny started? It seemed like they were trying to imply or convey something that I couldn't quite get, but they made a point of showing it. Obviously I'm missing something.
Anyway, welcome to the site and thanks for posting!
3 February 2009
1 year 21 weeks
A quick thought or two; nothing polished or planned out.
Why is the Gaeta story so powerful? Gaeta is / was one of the officers on Galatica's bridge, a loyal, decent, ethical young man. We saw his torment a few seasons ago when, on New Caprica, he worked as President Baltar's aide and chief of staff. The Cylons forced Baltar to execute and imprison humans; Gaeta, charged with carrying out these orders, instead found ways to counter them and to save the lives of many humans. He was a kind of Schindler, a bureaucrat working against the orders of those he was tasked with assisting.
He saved the life of Tyrol's wife, as I recall. We saw his earnest attempts to do the right thing. He agonized over his dual role, and nearly lost his life before Tyrol (now revealed to be a Cylon!) saved him.
Late last fall, Gaeta was part of a joint mission with humans and rebel Cylons. On that mission he lost his leg. That mission was a chain of events that eventually led the Colonial fleet to the home they had been seeking so long--Earth. But Earth was a bombed out radioactive wasteland.
Now Gaeta is the leader of a mutiny against the Colonial leaders he once served.
A couple of thoughts.
1. Gaeta as traitor is a great example of what happens when fundamentalists lose their faith. His anger at Adama and Roslin, and their failure to find a home for the fleet, combined with his hatred for the Cylons and his rejection of any alliance with the rebels, has brought him to mutiny.
Honestly, this reminds me of several people I know of who were once believers, and who rejected their faith.
There's something about fundamentalism, and its demand for religious certainty. When fundamentalists lose their faith, their anger and vitriol turns against those who were once their friends. I'm thinking of a particular scholar I know, once a believer and pastor who now writes best-selling books mocking faith and Christianity.
2. Betrayal is among the most powerful archetypal stories. For Christians, it resonates very close to the heart; what is the story of Judas but the story of a friendship betrayed? Peter's denials, likewise.
For the biblically minded, it's powerful due to echoes of another story, that of King David. David was both betrayer (cuckolding and murdering his best friend, Uriah) and betrayed (shamed and hunted by his own son, Absalom).
Other literary examples of this story abound: King Arthur (betrayed by both Lancelot and Mordred); Othello and Iago; Samson and Delilah, Paul and Demas.
Stories of betrayal play on our deepest fears: we want to trust people, to have relationships of transparency and vulnerability. But those relationships are always risky, and occasionally end in disaster because of trust misplaced.
And what of our own failures in friendship? The flush of shame we feel when we are disloyal, when we use a friend for our own gain in whatever small way; we sometimes really DO despise and use the people we're closest to; "Familiarity breeds contempt." When we look at Gaeta, do we see the destructive potential of our own disappointments and pettiness, and the treacheries they might bring out in us?
27 December 2008
20 min 13 sec
The way he's setting it up, it would seem like he'll have no choice but to kill 'em once he wins (Assuming he does. He probably will, but then there's always a chance...I mean he's got to die sometime, right?).
So is he gonna' kill 'em? Maroon them on Earth? Have a sudden unpredictable change of heart the way he did when he decided to reunite the fleet after Roslin's rebellion? Lots of ways this could go.
By the way, I have to give them credit for the way they're handling earth. Republibot 2.0 and I have spoken frequently about how there's really no good idea to end the Galactica saga - if they find earth and it's the distant past, then essentially the show becomes a 110-hour long Twilight Zone episode; if they find earth and it's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, then who gives a damn? If they find earth and it's right here, right now, then you're back in Galactica 1980 territory, and no one wants that...having found a fourth option that I, myself, wouldn't have thought up is impressive.
22 January 2009
1 year 3 weeks
The first thing that came out of my mouth after Starbuck started shooting mutineers was "ahhh, I missed that Starbuck..."
I must say I'm looking forward to the reckoning . . . I'm curious to see what Adama will do now that he is royally - with no forgiveness possible - pissed off!
27 December 2008
20 min 13 sec
Got the name wrong.
I thing Gaeta is in it for what he *believes* is the good of the fleet, but his rant at Adama about being a "Sad old man who's thinking with his heart" and going on about seven years of busting his ass indicates a very strong feeling of anger in him. Yes, he's doing what he's doing because he thinks it's best for everyone, but his anger and feelings of betrayal played a very large part in his coming to that conclusion in the first place, I think.
30 January 2009
11 hours 37 min
Gaeta (not Gaeda, BTW) seems to be in it for the good of the fleet. Mutiny is always suspect, but his actions are arguably justifiable.
But, yeah, he's done before Adama or even Zarek are, is my guess.
27 December 2008
20 min 13 sec
It's what I'm here for.
(In between crippling computer malfunctions and the attendant murderous rage, that is)
23 December 2008
2 hours 43 min
is the reason that Republibot exists.
Thanks.
RB 2